


Kisses & Confusion

by electrictoes



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-12
Updated: 2009-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:02:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28987521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/electrictoes/pseuds/electrictoes
Summary: A snog from a Time Lord can be an infuriating thing.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Kisses & Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> Currently unbeta-ed. Any & all mistakes are mine. Written for[](http://purely-distel.livejournal.com/profile)[purely_distel](http://purely-distel.livejournal.com/), delivered many hours later than promised.

**Title:** Kisses & Confusion (1/1)  
**Characters/Pairings:** Ten/Rose.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Spoilers:** Set between The Idiot's Lantern & The Impossible Planet  
**Disclaimer:** Dammit, one day Who'll be mine! Err, yeah. Playing with RTD's toys.  
**Summary:** _A snog from a Time Lord can be an infuriating thing.  
_**Author's Note:** Currently unbeta-ed. Any & all mistakes are mine. Written for[](http://purely-distel.livejournal.com/profile)[ **purely_distel**](http://purely-distel.livejournal.com/), delivered many hours later than promised.

  
Being snogged by the Doctor was not all that different from being snogged by other men, Rose decided. It was really quite a thorough snog, though, and she wasn’t going to complain. It was just a little less dramatic than she had anticipated. She had expected their to be fireworks or explosions, but it was just lips and teeth and tongues, like it was with, well, humans.

She drew back for breath much earlier than she would have liked and rested her forehead against his. Smiling, he leaned forward again, kissing her softly. Three short kisses while she struggled to get her breath back. And then he stepped away, bouncing around the console room like he hadn’t just given her the snog of her life. Well, one of the top five snogs of her life, definitely.

“Right then. Where to, Rose Tyler? We could try for Elvis again, or maybe, what do you reckon to The Beatles? Ooh, or we could try for Ian Drury, was quite disappointed we missed him last time, even if there was Queen Victoria and a werewolf. Ooh, you know where we could go Henry VIII, or Richard I, heart of the lion, that man-”

Rose should have expected this, him to revert straight back to Time Lord traveller mode. She cut him off, not feeling like dealing with a babbling alien after the day she’d had. “I’m really tired, Doctor. Can I just go home? See my mum for a bit?”

If the Doctor was going to argue, he stopped himself when he saw her expression. They had only left Jackie’s a few days ago and he was keen to get travelling again. The trip to see Elvis was meant to be a light-hearted adventure to ease them back into TARDIS life. She should have expected it would go wrong.

The Doctor nodded. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”

“A couple more days, yeah? And then we’ll try for Ian Drury.”

Nodding, the Doctor set the TARDIS co-ordinates. Moments later they landed in Rose’s bedroom back on the Powell Estate. After they had arrived the last time, once Rose had been given a cup of tea and reassured herself that her mother was fine, Jackie had insisted they move the TARDIS out of sight. He wasn’t going to risk a lecture this time.

They got one anyway. Jackie came barrelling into the bedroom just as they slipped out of the TARDIS doors. Shaking her head. “A little warning would be nice! I’ve got a client in there. Noise nearly scared her half to death.” She looked the Doctor up and down accusingly. “Why couldn’t you park it outside where no one can hear it? I’ve spilt hair dye all over my new carpet!”

“Hello Jackie, nice to see you, as always.”

Rose rolled her eyes at him and turned to her mother. “Sorry, Mum. We’ll land outside next time.”

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? You’ve barely been gone a week.”

“Nothing, just a rough day. I wanted to come home.”

Jackie looked as though she didn’t believe her, but she smiled anyway. “Okay sweetheart. Let’s get you a cup of tea.” She looked at the Doctor then. “You can have one too, but you’re going to the shops for more sugar later.”

They followed Jackie out of the bedroom and through to the living room. Jackie’s client was Mrs Muybridge from down the hall. She was nearing seventy, but still insisted on looking her best. She was a sweet old lady and she gave Rose a small wave as she came in.

“Look who I found on the doorstep, Mavis.” Jackie said. “Stuck my head out the door to see about that... plane... and there she was.”

“Hello Rose sweetheart.” Mavis smiled at her. “Is this your young man?”

The Doctor looked visibly startled, but said nothing. He waved vaguely in Mrs Muybridge’s direction and then sat down on an arm chair, glancing up to hear Rose’s response.

“No, no. We’re _just friends_.” Rose shot the Doctor a look as she spoke, a comment on what had happened moments before in the TARDIS.

He looked back at her and surprised her by responding. “I wouldn’t say that, Rose.”

“Wouldn’t you?” Her eyebrows knotted together in confusion as Jackie, rolling her eyes, disappeared to put the kettle on.

“Well, I could be your young man. If you wanted. Word choice debatable, of course.” Before Rose could response he leaned forward, a hand held out to Mrs Muybridge. “Mavis, was it? Sorry, hello. I’m the Doctor.” He shook her hand with a smile. “And I might well be Rose’s young man.”

“Got designs on our Rose have you?” Mavis eyed him carefully. “Well, you’re a doctor, that’s a good start. Don’t you think Jackie?”

Rose and the Doctor turned then, as Jackie reappeared with two mugs. “Think what?”

“This one. He could be good for your Rose. He’s a doctor.”

Jackie snorted and handed over the teacups. “Don’t let him charm you, Mavis.”

The Doctor’s mixed signals continued throughout their stay with Jackie. It seemed Mavis had told half of the estate about the handsome young doctor Rose was ‘stepping out with’, and whenever one of their neighbours or friends was around he continued to act as though she was the girl he wanted in his life. But whenever they were alone he barely touched her. They hadn’t kissed since that day with The Wire and she was becoming increasingly frustrated.

When they took off in the TARDIS again, Rose contemplated confronting him. But it was another week before she said anything. They had got caught in the middle of a civil war on a planet Rose couldn’t pronounce the name of and were at a ball to celebrate the re-crowning of King Jynket. The Doctor was skulking near the wall, a drink in his hand, untouched. She had felt his eyes on her all night, though they’d spent very little time together.

The daughter of the King had whisked Rose off immediately upon their arrival, gushing about her dress and wanting her opinion on the man she wished to marry. Since then she had spoken to what felt like a hundred dignitaries but the Doctor had made no effort to approach her. She walked over to him, sliding beside him against the wall. “Hello.”

He turned his head to look at her. “Hello. Alright?”

Rose nodded. “Yes.” She paused. “No. Actually, no.”

He looked startled then, and stood upright. Readying himself for action. It was moments like this that confused her more than any others; he would stand up and defend her without a second thought, but he wouldn’t stake his own claim and it was driving her insane. “What’s wrong?”

“You.”

“Me?” He looked her for a moment, bemused. Clearly he had no idea that he was behaving so infuriatingly. She slid her hand into his and led him wordlessly from the room. He stopped to put his drink down, but aside from that followed her without question.

When they stopped, just outside the glamorous hall the ball was being held in, she released his hand and turned to look at him. “You need to tell me what you want.”

“What?” He locked eyes with her. “You’re going to have to be more specific. I want a lot of things. I’d like a banana milkshake and I’d like to get out of this suit. I want to have hair like this for the rest of my regenerations and I-”

“Stop it.” Rose gripped his arm lightly. “Stop. Talking.”

“Now I’m even more confused, Rose, how can I answer your question if-”

“I need you to tell me why you kissed me.” She paused, watching his reaction. “I need you to tell me why you haven’t done it since.”

The Doctor blinked. “After I kissed you went all sulky and wanted to go home. And then you told that woman at your mother's that we were just friends.”

“And you told her were weren’t. You’ve told hundreds of people since then we weren’t. Don’t think I didn’t notice you telling King What’s-His-Face that I couldn’t marry his son because I was spoken for. You’ve been acting like we’ve made some sort of promise, but then when we-” She broke off, a sudden thought hitting her. She looked at him again. “Wait. Did we make some sort of promise? Is a snog that doesn’t involve mind possession a proposal on... whatever planet you’re from?”

The Doctor burst out laughing as she spoke and she resisted the urge to slap him. He tried to control his laughter long enough to respond to her. “...Sorry. Sorry, no. No proposal. A snog for Time Lords is the same as a snog for humans. Kind of. Different physical responses, but-”

“Doctor. Why did you kiss me?”

“Because...” He looked down at the floor. “Because, well, you were there and your face... it was back and you looked so... and I couldn’t help it.” He paused. “But then you pulled away and I thought-”

“I have to _breathe_ sometimes, Doctor.”

“I thought that you...”

“You mean, you haven’t been kissing me because you thought I didn’t want you to?”

“Um, yeah.” He lifted his gaze to hers, a sheepish expression on his face. “So I thought we could pretend it didn’t happen.”

“And all that ‘I could be your young man’ stuff with Mrs Muybridge? What was that?”

“Just... wanted you to know that I’d be partial to a bit more of the snogging and... the rest. If you changed your mind.”

Rose sighed and studied him for a moment; her mad Time Lord. Standing before her in Converse and a tux, looking like a lost little boy. She shook her head and lay a hand on the back of his neck. “You are a _ridiculous_ alien. Honestly.” She dragged his head down to meet hers, giving him a snog to rival their last.

He almost instantly moved them around, so that her back was to the wall, grabbing her face and taking control of the kiss, showing her just what a Time Lord tongue was good for. She pulled away when breathing became difficult, resting her head against the wall and giving him a slow smile. “Need to catch my breath, before you ask.”

He rested his forehead on hers, a sure smile spreading across his face. "Well, be quick about it."


End file.
